Welcome
to a detailed walk through the details and specifications of the
leather sling for the German WW2 MP 38. u. 40 !

The
photo above was taken by a PK photographer in Italy, and shows a late
production MP40. Note the sun-wind-dust goggles with the correct
envelope and the MP40 pouch with ladder-stitching! It is also
interesting to see that the sling button has come "un-buttoned", a
problem often encountered when the sling gets soft.

The overall view

The
leather sling that was issued with the MP38. u. 40 sub machinegun are
in
many aspects identical to the sling that was issued with the Mauser
K98k. I would recommend that you read my article about the Mauser K98k
leather sling first, as I will only focus on the aspects of the MP38.
u. 40 sling that differ from those of the K98k sling.
The
MP38. u. 40 sling was only used on either the MP38 or the
MP40
(erroneously reffered to by some as the "Schmeisser"!), as both guns
have
identical sling attachments. Of special note is the fact that the
forward sling attachment could be turned 180 degrees and mounted on the
opposite side of the gun. This practice has only been observed on
surviving guns, and never in period
photos though. It would require the barrel to be loosened from the gun,
a
practice I suspect was strictly forbidden. The German name for the
sling was simply "Trageriemen". I have found no mentioning of the
separate parts.

The buckle

As
stated earlier, most of the MP38. u. 40 sling is identical to
the
Mauser K98k sling. Until now I have found 4 different
markings on buckles of true MP38. u. 40 slings.

The makers have been identified as follows:

Markings
on
buckle

Maker
name

L&F

Linden
& Funke KG, Iserlohn

S↑C

Schmöle
& Co, Menden/Sauerland

Unmarked

Unknown
maker(s)

gau 41

Heinrich Sudhaus Söhne, Iserlohn

All details on the buckles are the same as on the K98k buckle. The
last buckle was only discovered recently, and is very special as
it is marked on the opposite side. The markings would normally be
covered by the leather protector.

The button

The
button was a simple stud with two heads. The standard seems to be two
equally rounded heads with a blued finish. I think there was
more than one model of these, as some I encounter have a slightly
larger flat disk to one side and a rounded head to the other. Photo
evidence from the period also suggests this. Some of
the buttons have a slightly shorter stem and are in fact for
the gas mask
canister sling (last one in the photo). Studs made of brass are clearly
postwar
made as the use of these metals had been restricted by 1938. I am
unsure if any were ever made of aluminum.

The system
with the button proved less than satisfactory when slings got worn or
soft as it got "un-buttoned" during use. The first picture on this page
shows a sling with this problem.
To remedy this problem many individuals actually buttoned on a
"Haltestück" from a K98k sling!

The sling

The
sling was made of leather, dyed dark brown and impressed with a ricasso
pattern and a stripe running along each border, just like the K98k
sling. The length is also the same. The true difference between them is
the stamping of the holes.
While the K98k have 3 holes for adjustment of the length spaced with a
equal
distance between them the "MP38. u. 40" sling have only two holes for
buttoning the sling together with
a much longer distance between them.

In the picture above 2 original MP38. u. 40 slings with a
Mauser K98k sling in the midle. Note the different distance between the
holes, slings made by two different manufacturers.

A K98k
sling can be transformed into a MP38. u. 40 only by shortening it
considerably and adding new holes, or by adding a forth hole, as the
three holes are too close to get it buttoned on properly.
Vise versa, a MP38. u.
40 sling can be transformed into a K98k sling by adding a third hole
manually between the two already there. I have seen plenty of evidence
of this practice, but I guess most of these modifications happened
postwar. A close inspection of the holes or control of the length will
give them away!

Markings

The slings
have maker's markings and WaA's identical with those found on the K98k
slings, but full names are of course very rare as most MP38. u.
40 slings are made after 1940 and would only sport a code.
They
are also marked on the same spot, and most often the markings are gone
due to wear.
What sets the MP38. u. 40 sling apart from the Mauser K98k
sling is the designation stamping "MP38. u. 40".
I
have seen no other German WW2 made gun that would have been able to use
the same sling, and this probably explains why they should have
bothered to put it there in the first place! True, the Mauser K98k
sling has a designation stamping "Kar", but this is short for
"Karabiner", and the "KAR" sling was used on several other guns all
classified as "Karabiner"-length.
The "MP38. u. 40" stamping will
appear on the inside close to the buckle. Two different fonts have been
encountered. Very often the stamping is no longer visible, as soiling
and wear have left the leather almost black. These are the best
pictures I have at the moment, and clearly show how use will make the
ink-stamp unreadable...!

The MP38. u. 40 in manuals

None of the manuals I have seen goes into detail about the
sling. They only mention it as one of the accessories for the MP38. u.
40. The name stated is simply "Trageriemen". A parts list has the
following picture of it.

The sling in use

A very interesting photo! The Waffen SS soldier carries a first model
MP40. Note the slab sided magazine well, the protrusion over the muzzle
nut for the metal muzzle protector and the leather safety
strap, which identifies the bolt as a first model. The MP40 magazine
pouch is also very strange, with much too long lids! Also of interest
is the fact that he is wearing the early cavalry-style
Y-straps, has adorned a improvised helmet cover, is wearing no jacket
underneath the camouflage smock and has a well-filled bread-bag
unusually worn on the hip! Maybe just returning or going out on a recon
mission? Or is it a reenactor in a faked & staged photo?

Postwar use

As
with the K98k, the MP38. u. 40 saw extensive postwar use with several
armies. Many of these armies made their own slings as replacements, and
these slings can of course be found all over the place sold as genuine
stuff! Read page 2 of my article on the K98k sling for more details.
The
most often encountered postwar sling for the MP38. u. 40 is the
Austrian made "Stolla Wien" sling. Made postwar for the Austrian army
by the same manufacturer that made them in WW2 (under the code "cgu").
Almost impossible to tell apart, except for the postwar marking!

Sometimes fakers add a year (1940) between the two lines to make it
more "sellable"!

There
is also a batch of Waffen SS marked slings in circulation. Sling is
basically a surplus sling with no crosshatch pattern, with a RZM/SS
marking in ink on the inside. (The RZM marking
is the key here, as that combo on a MP sling is ridiculous!). The one
bellow also has a RbNr added, which makes it even less credible.